Coming to America

Coming to America

I was 17 years old and always hungry.  Two years of drought were followed by months of monsoon-like deluges that flooded my family’s farm and home.  We had used all of our meager savings to survive, rationing food as only my mother could.  I made the decision to leave home and travel to Shanghai to find work.  After all, I had a fifth grade education and thought I could do anything.  My family was able to help me find lodging with some old village neighbors who had since moved to Shanghai.  This only lasted for several days, as Mr. Lu’s wife would constantly begrudge me any kind of food or extra helpings at the dinner table.  Mr. Lu told me that his wife was half-crazy but I couldn’t stand her staring eyes constantly tracking me, waiting for me to steal a morsel of food from them. 

I knew I needed to get out of this situation, and fortunately I was told that a wealthy ambassador was in need of childcare for his 4-year-old daughter named Annabelle.  This would be only a temporary assignment, as they would be departing for America in 2 months.  I loved the 4-year-old Annabelle and was a combination playmate/supervisor for her.  Annabelle loved me as well, and cried incessantly when it was time for them to leave the country.  She insisted that I accompany them and finally her father relented and invited me.  I wrote to my brother and asked him his opinion.  He told my mother who became enraged at the thought that I would leave and insisted I return home right away.  Elder brother however knew that this was the opportunity of a lifetime and felt I absolutely needed to go.  He knew that the political situation in China was escalating at that time and I would be safer in America.  He told me that I would have to return back to China within 3 years and I set that as my goal as well.  So off to America I went.

I wound up in New York City with the ambassador’s family.  Annabelle became more and more a willful and spoiled child.  As the months and years passed it became an almost unbearable situation living with them.  I was again accused of taking food that didn’t belong to me (a banana of all things!) by Annabelle who would smirk in the background as her parents would scold me. 

One day I was in Riverside Park with Annabelle to let her play on the swing sets.  I met Elder Auntie and unloaded my frustrations at the ambassador’s home onto her.  She thought I needed to marry to get out of that situation but I thought this was a ludicrous idea.  I then told the ambassador that I wanted to go home as my 3-year commitment to him had been fulfilled.  He agreed to release me to return to China but wanted me to wait several months as he had a friend who was going back to China then and could accompany me.  I agreed but this was 1949 and the Communists were making a concerted effort to take over the country.  China was riddled in war.  I could not return.

I kept in touch with Elder Aunt who wanted to introduce me to her godson.  She indicated that he was 8 years my elder and worked in a kitchen at an American restaurant – Dubrow’s Cafeteria.  When he first met me he insisted to Elder Aunt that this could not possibly work.  What was she thinking introducing me to a 12-year-old girl?  Elder Aunt laughed and informed him that I was 21.  I discovered he was a kind man, generous at heart.  He was a hard-worker and Elder Aunt thought that I would always be provided for.  After 3 months, we did marry, and I had sealed my fate.  I was going to stay in America permanently.